IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2021i17p9128-d624977.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

High Prevalence of Overweight and Its Association with Mid-Upper Arm Circumference among Female and Male Farmers in Tanzania and Mozambique

Author

Listed:
  • Laila Eleraky

    (Department of Food Biofunctionality, Institute of Nutritional Sciences, University of Hohenheim, 70599 Stuttgart, Germany)

  • Ramula Issa

    (Department of Food Biofunctionality, Institute of Nutritional Sciences, University of Hohenheim, 70599 Stuttgart, Germany
    Faculty of Health Sciences, Lúrio University, Nampula 3100, Mozambique)

  • Sónia Maciel

    (Faculty of Health Sciences, Lúrio University, Nampula 3100, Mozambique)

  • Hadijah Mbwana

    (Department of Food Technology, Nutrition and Consumer Sciences, Sokoine University of Agriculture, Morogoro 3006, Tanzania)

  • Constance Rybak

    (Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), 15374 Müncheberg, Germany)

  • Jan Frank

    (Department of Food Biofunctionality, Institute of Nutritional Sciences, University of Hohenheim, 70599 Stuttgart, Germany)

  • Wolfgang Stuetz

    (Department of Food Biofunctionality, Institute of Nutritional Sciences, University of Hohenheim, 70599 Stuttgart, Germany)

Abstract

The increasing prevalence of overweight/obesity may already have reached the farmers in Tanzania and Mozambique. Here, the measurement of the mid-upper-arm-circumference (MUAC) could become a simple and sensitive tool for early detection of at-risk groups of overweight as well as underweight. Body Mass Index (BMI) and MUAC of female and male farmers ( n = 2106) from different regions of Tanzania and the Zambézia province, Mozambique, were analyzed by region, sex, age, and correlates. MUAC cut-offs, calculated via BMI cut-offs (<18.5, ≥25, and ≥30 kg/m 2 ), and multiple linear regression (MLR), compared to those selected by highest Youden’s index (YI) value, were assessed. The study showed an overall higher prevalence of overweight (19%) than underweight (10%) due to the high number of overweight female farmers (up to 35%) in southern Tanzania. BMI, which was mainly and positively predicted by MUAC, was higher in Tanzania and among female farmers, and decreased significantly from the age of ≥65 years. MUAC cut-offs of <24 cm and ≥30.5 cm, calculated by MLR, detected 55% of farmers being underweight and 74% being overweight, with a specificity of 96%; the higher cut-off <25 cm and lower cut-off ≥29 cm, each selected according to YI, consequently detected more underweight (80%) and overweight farmers (91%), but on the basis of a lower specificity (87–88%). Overweight was evident among female farmers in East Africa. MUAC cut-offs, whether defined via linear regression or Youden’s Index, could prove to be easy-to-use tools for large-scale screenings of both underweight and overweight.

Suggested Citation

  • Laila Eleraky & Ramula Issa & Sónia Maciel & Hadijah Mbwana & Constance Rybak & Jan Frank & Wolfgang Stuetz, 2021. "High Prevalence of Overweight and Its Association with Mid-Upper Arm Circumference among Female and Male Farmers in Tanzania and Mozambique," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(17), pages 1-13, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:17:p:9128-:d:624977
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/17/9128/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/17/9128/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Zahra Saidi Majili & Cornelio Nyaruhucha & Kissa Kulwa & Khamaldin Mutabazi & Constance Rybak & Stefan Sieber, 2020. "Preferences and Consumption of Pigeon Peas among Rural Households as Determinants for Developing Diversified Products for Sustainable Health," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(15), pages 1-15, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Magdalena Śmiglak-Krajewska & Julia Wojciechowska-Solis & Domenico Viti, 2020. "Consumers’ Purchasing Intentions on the Legume Market as Evidence of Sustainable Behaviour," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-20, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:17:p:9128-:d:624977. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.